Shoe bottom finishing machine



March 13, 1945. .-E. 1. LA CHAPELLE SHOE BOTTOM FINISHING MACHINE Filed Dec. 23, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 InmM Invenfort W M 4% March 13, 1945. E. l. LA cHAPELLE 2,371,301

SHOE BOTTOM FINISHING MACHINE Filed Dec. 25, 1942 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WMZ Patented Mar. 13, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

SHOE BOTTOM FINISHING MACHINE Euclid I. La Chapelle, Brockton, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application December 23, 1942, Serial No. 469,967

3 Claims.

This invention relates to finishing machines and is herein illustrated and described as em-' bodied in a machine for finishing shoe bottoms.

The operation of finishing shoe bottoms consists in applying to the tread surface of the outsole of a shoe a finishing composition which includes a definite quantity of polishing wax and in presenting the tread surface thus treated to a rotary bristle polishing brushand then to a rotary woolen glossing brush. Inasmuch as the presentation of the shoe bottoms to the brushes is madeby hand, the duration of the polishing operation is undetermined and subject to the judgment of the operator. If a shoe bottom is held too long against the brushes, the surface to be finished willbe damaged by the burning off of the polishing wax, with resulting dullness and discoloration of the shoe bottom. Because of such danger, operators often rst content with enough polishing to provide a glossy shoe bottom. However, proper polishing requires more than merely glossing the shoe bottom, The finishing composition which has been applied should first be worked by the bristle polishing brush to a hard condition, causing it to be firmly set to avoid spewing of the soles while the shoes are being held in stock. Moreover, the proper application of the shoe bottom composition, which includes working the polishing wax into the hard grain of the leather outsole' while the wax is frictionally heated by the polishing means, increases materially the wearing qualities of the leather. It is evident, therefore that the duration of the polishing operation is critical.

' Another disadvantage of presenting the shoes to the polishing tools by hand is that the operator may embed the work more or less deeply into the brush with possible damage to the brush.

It is an object of this invention to provide a shoe bottom polishing machine wherein the duration of the operation and the extent to which the work is embedded in the brushes may be positively controlled and predetermined- In accordance with a feature of .the invention, the illustrated machine is provided with a turret carrying a plurality of shoe supports and rotatable to bring shoes on thesesupports into engagement successively with a plurality of bottom finishing tools, this turret being driven through a Geneva movement which provides a dwell during which the shoes are operated upon by the-tools at their respective stations. The shoe supports of the illustrated machine are capable of adjustment to control the depth to which the work will be embedded in the brushes.

These and other features of the invention will appear more fully from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to theaccompanying drawings.

Fig. l is a side elevation of ashes bottom finishing machine in which the invention is embodied; and

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

The frame structure of the illustrated machine consists of a base I and a pair of upright members 2 which support a drive shaft 3 and the various tools. Included among these tools are a pair of bristle waxing brushes 4 which may be used to transfer polishing wax to the work whenever the operator considers the polishing wax contained in the bottom finishing composition which has already been applied to the shoe bottoms to be insufficient. The additional wax is first applied directly to the brushes 4 by the operator. These brushes 4 may not be necessary for some batches of Work, and they may be rendered inoperative at any time by removing their driving belts from the pulleys, Also included among the tools are a pair of bristle polishing brushes 5 adapted to work the finishing composition on the shoe bottom to a hard and firm condition of set. The remaining tools consist of a pair of woolen glossing brushes adapted to perform the final polishing or glossing of the shoe bottoms. The waxing brushes 4 are mounted upon a shaft 25 which is journaled in suitable bearings carried by the upright frame members 2. The polishing brushes 5 are mounted upon a similarly supported shaft 24 and the glossing brushes 6 are mounted upon a similarly supportedshaft 26. Each of the brushes is made up actually of two separate brush elements, one of which is cylindrical for operation upon the .forep'art and the other of which is frusto-conical for operation upon the shank. The brushes are rotated continuously at high speed from the drive shaft 3. A belt 2| drives the shaft directly from the shaft 3 while belts 22 and23 drive the shafts 25 and 26 from the" shaft 24. The shaft 3 is itself driven from any suitable source of power by a belt 21.

The shoe supporting means comprises a pair of turrets in the form of hub members I mounted on a shaft 8 which is journaled in suitable bearings in the upright frame members 2. Extending radially from each of the hub members 1 and disposed at intervals are four jack supports 9. Threaded into the jack supports for the purpose of radial adjustment are jacks l0. Each jack is held in adjusted position on its jack support by a clamp 9'. The lacks of the illustrated machine have last pins and toe rests for supporting shoes on their lasts. For shoes off their last jacks of an appropriate type should be substituted for those shown herein. The provision for radial adjustment of the jack supports enables the extent of contact of the shoe bottoms with the brushes to be positively controlled. Weeks or even months of wear can be added to or taken from the life of brushes, according to the treatment accorded them. Burying the shoe bottom in the brush, as may often occur when the operation is performed by hand, turns the brush material at a sharp angle, thereby weakening -it and causing it to wear out faster. Too much pressure can also mat down the bristles, causing them to out against each other. The above described provision for control of the extent of contact of the shoe bottom with the polishing tools not only overcomes these disadvantages but also enables a better polish to be obtained.

While the illustrated machine is provided with two sets of brushes and two sets of shoe support ing jacks 10, it will be understood that any number of sets of brushes and jacks may be provided.

As shown in Fig. 1, the brushes 4 are directly above the axis of the shaft 8; the brushes 6 are directly below said axis; and the brushes'5 are on a level with said axis and to the left. When a shoe on one of the jacks I is in position to be operated upon by the brush 4, the shoe on another jack will be in position to be operated upon by the brush 5, and the shoe on still another jack will be in position to be operated upon by' the brush 6. The fourth jack will be on a level with and to the right of the axis of the shaft 8. This position, wherein shoes are taken off the jacks and other shoes are placed on the jacks, will be called station A, while the positions defined by the brushes 4, 5, and B will be referred to as the operating stations B, C, and D respectively.

In order to bring the shoes on the jacks successively into operative engagement with the brushes, the shaft 8 is driven through a Geneva movement I l comprising a plate l2 secured upon the shaft 8 and having four radial slots [3 disposed at 90 intervals. These slots l3 are adapted pose of holding the plate l2- stationary except when the plate 42 is being driven by the pin l4.

The disks l5 and H are both mounted on a stub shaft l8 which is driven by two sets of variable speed pulleys 19, connected by a belt 20. The variable speed pulleys t9 constitute an important feature of this invention in making possible control of the duration of the bottom polishing operation at each of the operating stations B, C,

and D by predetermining the speed of rotation of the hub members I,

In operating the machine, a shoe 28, shown. herein as on its last, is placed on'the shoe supporting jack at the loading station A. The. Geneva movement thereupon will rotate the hub 1 through to bring the shoe to station B where the shoe bottom engages the waxing brush. 4. The length of time of dwell at the various stations is governed by the speed of rotation of the hub member 1. During this dwelli the operator places another shoe on the jack: which is then;

at station A, and the Geneva movement at the end of the dwell rotates the huh 1 another 90 to bring the first shoe to station C and the second shoe to station E. The first shoe is thus presented to the bristle polishing brush 5 while the second shoe is presented to the waxing brush 4, during which time the operator places a third shoe on the jack then located at station A. At the end of the dwell, thehub rotates through another 90, bringing the first shoe to station D at which it is presented to the woolen glossing brush 6 for a final polishing touch. The operator thereupon places a fourth shoe on the jack now located at station A. Further movement of the hub brings the first shoe back to station A for removal from the jack, after which the operator places the fifth shoe upon the jack; and the operation proceeds indefinitely in this manner.

The duration of the waxing, polishing and glossing operations is equal to the length of time of dwell of theGeneva movement, which in turn depends upon the speed of rotation of the shaft 8. This speed may be varied by changing the belt 20 from one to another pair of the variable speed pulleys l9. For any'particular polishing composition the, operator can readily determine by experiment the most desirable timing of the Geneva movement and then set the belt 20' accordingly. Likewise the manufacturer of the shoe bottom finishing composition may determine the proper period of the operation. and supply the information to his customers.

' Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A shoe bottom finishing machine, comprising a plurality of shoe bottom finishing tools positioned at difierent operating stations, a plurality of shoe supports, a turret carrying said shoe supports and mounted for rotation to bring shoes on said shoe supports into engagement successively with said bottom finishing tools, means including a Geneva movement for driving said turret, said Geneva movement being constructed and arranged to impart to the turret a step-bystep movement which carries each shoe. from one station to another and which provides a dwell during which the shoes are operated upon by the tools at their respective stations, and means associated with said' driving means for enabling. the timing of the movement of the turret tobe varied to provide a longer or shorter dwell atthe operating stations.

2. A shoe bottom finishing machine, comprising a waxing brush, a polishing brush, a glossing brush, the position of each brush. constituting. an, operating station, means for driving said brushes, a shoe supportingmember mounted for rotation, four jacks extending radially from said shoe supporting member for carrying shoes to be presented to said brushes, means for enabling each of the jacks to be adjusted radially to determine the extent to which the. shoe on that jack will be embedded in the brushes, and. driving means including a four-stationv Geneva movement for rotating said shoe supporting'member step. by step relatively to the. finishing brushes, said Geneva movement being constructed and arranged tov provide a dwell in the movement of the. shoe supporting member while shoes on three of the jacks are 'presented to the brushes at said. three operating stations and while the fourth jack occupies a fourth. station at which av shoe may be taken. off the jack and another shoe. placed on the jack.

3'. A shoe bottom flnishingmachine comprising a shoe supporting member mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis, .four jacks extending radially from said shoe supporting member for carrying shoes, a waxing brush, a polishingbrush, a g-lossing brush, said brushes being spaced ninety degrees apart around the axis of said supporting member in the order above mentioned and the interval between the glossing brush and the waxing brush being one hundred and eighty degrees, the position of each brush constituting an operating station, and driving means for rotating said shoe supporting member step by step relatively to the finishing brushes to present shoes on the jacks to the finishing brushes, said driving means being constructed and arranged to provide a dwell in the movement of the supporting member while shoes on three of the jacks are presented to the brushes at said three operating stations and while the fourth jack occupies a fourth station at which a shoe may be taken 10 off the jack and another placed on the jack.

EUCLID I. LA CHAPELLE. 

